


Do You Remember Love?

by Princess_Kally (battlecities)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Canon, Romance, Vexshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-16
Updated: 2012-07-16
Packaged: 2017-11-10 02:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/461152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/battlecities/pseuds/Princess_Kally
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anzu remembers Bakura in snapshots of seasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do You Remember Love?

**Author's Note:**

> Birthday gift fic for bakurae.

Anzu remembers Bakura in snapshots of seasons.  
  
Autumn finds him in Domino Nature Park, sitting along on the park bench that overlooks the park. He's relaxed against the back of the chair, and there is a 'don't talk to me' aura that radiates off him, crossed arms, half lidded eyes, closed body posture. Anzu skips over to him and seats herself next to him.  
  
"Hello." She says as she stares straight ahead, at the sky. “It’s been awhile...”  
  
His eyes widen for a second.  
  
"You can-"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
He relaxes. Silence settles into the air between them, and Anzu can hardly breathe for fear of interrupting. She counts the heartbeats that pass by (one heart beat, two tha thump, three) and opens her mouth to speak - It’s been awhile how have you been do you still- How do I ever say-. A gust of wind blows by, unsettling the fallen autumn leaves. Anzu stops, and watches as the leaves - rotted and fallen, and yet so beautiful - slowly drift in adagio back towards the ground.  
  
"Why are you here?" She asks, after the leaves settle. It seems appropriate, somehow. The rest of the world has been and gone, and yet the two of them still have words to say, things to do.  
  
"It's none of your business." Short and to the point. It's so Bakura that Anzu's tempted to laugh.  
  
Even now, he doesn't change.  
  
Anzu wants to say something. Anything. But she could speak a million words, and it is her actions that will get to Bakura in a fraction of the time needed. So she shrugs instead.  
  
"I'll make it mine."  
  
A smile creeps across her face as she hears the mutter of "Meddlesome woman," from her companion.  
  
Anzu doesn't bother with overly cheesy phrases, or words which promise more than she can give. She stands, stretches and offers him her hand. He doesn't take it. Her smile still sits on her face, but now, it's accompanied with a look of pure determination. She will win him over.  
  
He bats her hand aside - she shivers at how cold he is - and stands.  
  
"I don't need your help."  
  
Anzu laughs.  
  
"...Meddlesome woman."  
  
In autumn, they tread down the red filled paths of Domino Nature Park. Anzu greets Bakura at noon each day with a smile on her face and a skip in her step. She runs off into the distance without a word. She knows he will follow her, because he is curious as to where she'll lead him.  
  
Sometimes, they journey through the winding paths in silence - and it is a journey, for there is always something to be learnt, something to be seen. Side by side, never quite touching, but too close for any semblance of personal space, they walk, simply observing the occurrence that is autumn.  
  
And at the end of each day, she asks: "Are you ready to move on?"  
  
It's the bitter smile that gives away his answer.  
  
Anzu says no more.  
  
She inches closer to him on some days, almost close enough to touch. Once, she bumps into him, shoulders brushing momentarily. Anzu freezes, but when there is no reaction from him, except to keep moving, she smiles awkwardly at his raised eyebrows and cocked head.  
  
"Nothing." She says, and that is the end of the matter.  
  
(His shoulder is cold against hers, but the brush of contact fills her with a warm tingle, makes her heart beat a little faster.)  
  
Some days, she arrives to an empty park bench. The park is as picturesque as ever, but it's missing something. That's alright.  
  
He'll be there.  
  
(He's not done yet.)  
  
Time passes. The streets fill with a sea of multi-coloured umbrellas, and the harsh splatter of rain against pavement. Dour faces and hunched backs rush by, eager to get to the next destination, inside and away from the elements.  
  
Anzu doesn't want to go home today. If she does, it's likely that her dad will break into another argument with her, with her mother standing silently in the background -- “We don't want to force you to do anything sweetie, but won't you reconsider? Dancing isn't exactly...” An exchange of glances, "the most stable of careers..."  
  
She scowls.  
  
"What's got Miss Sunshine in such a dour mood?" Bakura asks as she stands in front of him for she refuses to sit on the bench, soaked as it is. He looks impassive as ever, even as the rain falls.  
  
Anzu eyes him, still irritated.  
  
"My parents."  
  
He smirks. "The pressures of the modern world, hm?"  
  
Anzu opens her mouth to snap at him, then slowly closes it. She sighs. Truth be told, there is a small, niggling part of her which agrees with her parents, which tells her this is a pointless dream. It is the same voice that says she might really be worthless.  
  
"My parents think that dance won't get me a stable career."  
  
She looks up from the floor and sees his raised eyebrows.  
  
"It's been my dream for so long, but..." Her head drops again, and her shoulders slump further.  
  
Anzu lets loose a shriek at the cold hand flings the umbrella aside, exposing her to the rain. She's too stunned to react when Bakura takes her hands and guides her a rhythmic motion, swaying side to side. But her body, after spending countless hours of being trained to simply dance follows on with ease.  
  
He leans in, and she can feel his breath, hot against her skin. "Don't think. Just dance," and quickens the pace until the world blurs around them and there is nothing but them.  
  
Anzu doesn't think - she dances, learns to judge the subtle body signals that Bakura gives out as he shifts from action to action. This isn't rehearsed, this isn't practised, but they do not fumble.  
She doesn't know how long has passed, or if others are staring at her... She doesn't care. There is only her, Bakura, and the dance, a mix of wild moves and the press of body against body and the cold rain splattering against her...  
  
Anzu lets her worries fly away.  
  
When they finally stop, Anzu dizzily collapses onto the bench, not even caring about the water - she's already drenched.  
  
She laughs, loud and clear. "That was fun."  
  
He smiles back at her, pleased.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Two days later, when she's sick in bed with a cold, all she can think to do is to glare at him.

 

* * *

  
  
“Have you seen the sakura?” She asks as she dodges another snowball. Anzu bends down to scoop up a handful of snow. She throws it, certain that this time she’ll finally get him.  
  
She misses by an inch.  
  
Anzu yelps as a snowball solidly impacts against her chest. Grinning, she picks up two handfuls of snow and immediately tosses them, one after the other. They pass through Bakura, but that’s alright. She’s still hit him.  
  
“Score!”  
  
...and dodges another snowball for her efforts.  
  
Later, Anzu’s nursing a hot cup of chocolate at a nearby cafe whilst Bakura watches on.  
  
“To answer your question... No, I haven’t.”  
  
Anzu gives him a questioning glance, then returns to her excellent, excellent cup of hot chocolate. It’s blessedly warm inside the cafe, but not so much so that she would consider taking a layer or two off.  
  
“The sakura... I haven’t seen them before.”  
  
Anzu ‘mmn..’s between a mouthful of chocolate.  
  
“Tell me Bakura...” She looks at him, straight in the eye.  
  
“Are you ready to move on?”  
  
A bitter smile is her only response.  
  
“Then come spring,” she says, hands wrapped firmly around her cup of hot chocolate, “let’s go see the sakura.”  
  
Anzu drains the rest of her chocolate and stands.  
  
“Lets go!”  
  
Bakura cocks his head to the side, eyebrows raised, as if he were asking: “Where to?”  
  
She smiles. “You’ll see.”  
  
The snow is thick and heavy, but they managed to drag their limbs back and forth, creating caricatures of great, mythical beings within the snow.  
  
Bakura is mystified - “What point is there to it?” - and Anzu laughs.  
  
“Live a little.” She offers instead, and rolls over as a snowball comes flying her way.  
  
Winter passes and the flowers begin to bloom.  
  
Spring is filled with long, lazy walks in the park. It is near the end of hanami and there are very few people left. Many of the sakura flowers have fallen to the ground, covering the floor in a sea of pink and white. Anzu and Bakura wander to an isolated area of the park.  
  
"How long have you been able to..."  
  
"Since childhood." She says. "I've been told the pathways tend to close at 17, but with..." She waves her hand, "all things that went on, with Atem, and the Games and all..." She shrugs.  
  
He’s silent for a moment.  
  
“I’m-”  
  
“Don’t be.” She says, sharp and firm. “Once upon a time, I would’ve said I’ve had more than enough interesting for a lifetime, but if that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have met you.”  
  
Anzu giggles at the faint blush that covers his cheeks.  
  
Anzu lazily stretches herself out on the petal covered grass beneath a small sakura tree. Bakura sits next to her, resting his back against the thick trunk.  
  
They sit in companionable silence for some time. “That cloud...” Anzu languidly lifts her arm, pointing in the general direction of the sky. “Looks like an elephant.”  
  
Bakura looks up. “I don’t see it.”  
  
Anzu squints slightly. “It looks like a bird now.”  
  
Silence. Bakura is staring at the sky, seemingly trying to find the cloud that she’s been staring at. Only now, Anzu is staring at Bakura. He's not paying attention to her... He's staring blankly at the sky and, lips slightly parted, eyes wide as he searches. It’s... Endearing, in a way.  
  
Anzu chuckles. “And now it looks like your hair.”  
  
Attention having snapped back to her, Bakura pounces on her, a mock snarl accompanying his action. A cold shiver runs through her body when she feels him slowly sinking through her. He wobbles, and steadies suddenly, and now, he’s still against her. She raises her eyebrows and now? Now there is a cold hand pushing aside her mussed up bangs and a pair of lips against hers.  
  
The kiss is somewhat cold, but gentle in a way, and almost quite chaste, like a peck on the lips, but more, just a little more. Anzu likes it, so she wraps her hand around Bakura and reels him in closer, intensifies the kiss.  
  
When they finally break apart, Bakura has a dazed look on his face.  
  
“That...”  
  
“That was nice.” She says, and gives Bakura a quick peck on the cheek, taking advantage of his current state of “tangible” whilst she could.  
  
She smiles at him and offers her hand. “Let’s go.”  
  
He takes her hand.  
  
Together, the walk through the sakura filled paths of Domino Nature Park. A large gust of wind scatters the sakura petals, sending them flying through the air, a rain of pink and white, slowly drifting back towards earth.  
  
“Spring really is quite beautiful, isn’t it?” Anzu murmurs, resting her head against Bakura’s shoulder.  
  
“Yeah...” He sounds fond. “It is.”

* * *

  
Summer is hot and and sweltering. Anzu still cannot believe how fast the days have gone by. Today, she and Bakura sit beneath a tree, watching the sunset. Anzu’s licking on a cone of ice cream.  
  
“I would offer you some, but you’re... You know.”  
  
His silent for a moment before he retorts. “Excuses, excuses.”  
  
She laughs.  
  
“It’s hard to believe that it’s almost been an entire year.” She says as she finishes the rest of her ice cream.  
  
Bakura stands suddenly, and offers her his hand. “Walk with me.”  
  
Anzu raises her eyebrows, but takes his hand, entwining her fingers with his. Hands were such an integral part of a person - you built with them, fed with them, held others, touched and fought with them.  
  
She walks along with him, travelling down the winding roads. He leads her to a park of the park they have not been to before. Anzu gasps as they walk to the bench and sit - the sunset is one of the most beautiful she has seen.  
  
“I... I found this place, wandering around while you weren’t here.” He says, standing up almost immediately.  
  
“It’s amazing. But... Why show me now?”  
  
“Because...” The word is drawn slowly from him, as if he were reluctant to say it. “I’m ready to move on.”  
  
Anzu stiffens for a moment before she leaps up and takes a hold of him in a hug.  
  
“I don’t...” She can feel the faint pounding of his heart - and isn’t it strange, how even after death, the spirit imitates the subconscious actions of life? “It’s selfish of me, but I don’t want you to go.”  
  
“I’m sorry.” He says as he slowly extracts himself from her. There are tears in her eyes, and he slowly wipes them away.  
  
Anzu smiles. “Don’t be.” She says, and reaches up to give him a soft kiss.  
  
“I’ll always remember you.”  
  
He gives her a short nod, as if this were just a temporary goodbye, and not a farewell, and walks off into the sunset.  
  
The light of the sun envelops him. Despite this, Anzu does not look away, does not blink until she can no longer see him, the light of the sun having swallowed him up.  
  
She waits until the sun has fully set to return home.

* * *

  
Do you remember love?  
  
When she passes by the wooden bench at Domino Nature Park, she does not see an empty bench. Instead, there are two people, discovering the world.  
  
When the rain falls, it is not with a hunched back and a dour face, but with a skip in her step that she walks with, memories of a dance she barely remembers, and the memories of a wild dance, in which worries fly away.  
  
The sakura bring images of a kiss beneath a tree, of agreement and acceptance - I’ll take your hand.  
  
And summer? Summer is the most bittersweet of all. There is a wandering road and the most beautiful sunset she’s ever seen. There is goodbye.  
  
Anzu remembers all this, and more.  
  
She remembers love. **  
**


End file.
